Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation
With the global focus on service-led growth has come increased need for practical techniques for service innovation. Services are fluid, dynamic, experiential, and frequently co-produced in real time by customers, employees, and technology, often with few static physical properties. However, most product innovation approaches focus on the design of relatively static products with physical properties. Thus, many of the invention and prototype design techniques used for physical goods and technologies do not work well for human and interactive services. This article describes one technique-service blueprinting-that has proven useful for service innovation. Service blueprinting is securely grounded in the customer's experience and it allows the clear visualization of dynamic service processes. The technique is described in detail including real case examples that illustrate the value and breadth of its applications.
Authors :: Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, Felicia N Morgan
Swot Analysis of "Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation" written by Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, Felicia N Morgan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Blueprinting Service facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Blueprinting Service, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Blueprinting Service operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Blueprinting Service
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Blueprinting Service
Strengths Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Blueprinting Service in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Blueprinting Service has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Learning organization
- Blueprinting Service is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Blueprinting Service is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Blueprinting Service in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Blueprinting Service is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, Felicia N Morgan can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Blueprinting Service is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Blueprinting Service is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Blueprinting Service has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Blueprinting Service to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Blueprinting Service is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Blueprinting Service are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Blueprinting Service has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Blueprinting Service digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Blueprinting Service has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Blueprinting Service has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Blueprinting Service needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation, is just above the industry average. Blueprinting Service needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation, it seems that the employees of Blueprinting Service don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Blueprinting Service has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation HBR case study mentions - Blueprinting Service takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Blueprinting Service has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Blueprinting Service supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Blueprinting Service vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Blueprinting Service has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Blueprinting Service is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation, in the dynamic environment Blueprinting Service has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Blueprinting Service has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Blueprinting Service 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Blueprinting Service can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Blueprinting Service can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Blueprinting Service is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Blueprinting Service can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Blueprinting Service operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Blueprinting Service has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Blueprinting Service to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation case study. Blueprinting Service can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Blueprinting Service can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Blueprinting Service in the consumer business. Now Blueprinting Service can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Blueprinting Service can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Blueprinting Service in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Blueprinting Service can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Buying journey improvements
– Blueprinting Service can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Blueprinting Service to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Blueprinting Service can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation are -
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Blueprinting Service demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Blueprinting Service needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Blueprinting Service is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Blueprinting Service in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Blueprinting Service.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Blueprinting Service in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Blueprinting Service has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Blueprinting Service needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Blueprinting Service can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Blueprinting Service business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Blueprinting Service high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Blueprinting Service with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation, Blueprinting Service may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Service Blueprinting: A Practical Technique for Service Innovation is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Blueprinting Service needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.